"I've found that a substantial fraction of many people's days is spent worrying about what others think of them. If nobody ever worried about what was in other people's heads, we'd all be 33 percent 더 많이 effective in our lives and on our jobs.

How did I come up with 33 percent? I'm a scientist. I like exact numbers, even if I can't always prove them. So let's just run with 33 percent.

I used to tell antone who worked in my research group: "You don't ever have to worry about what I'm thinking. Good 또는 bad, I'll let 당신 know what's in my head."

That meant when I wasn't happy about something, I spoke up, often directly and not always tactfully. But on the positive side, I was able to reassure people: "If I haven't said anything, 당신 have nothing to worry about."

Students and colleagues came to appreciate that, and they didn't waste a lot of time obsessing over. "What is Randy thinking?" Because mostly, what I was thinking was this: I have people on my team who are 33 percent 더 많이 effective than everyone else. That's what was in my head.